Statistics from the NIH suggest there are in excess of 3000 patients with fulminant hepatic failure per year in the United States. If this data is extrapolated to incorporate the increasing burden of viral and alcoholic liver disease in The West and also in the under-developed world, the number of cases exceeds millions per year world-wide.
With global increasing incidence of end-stage liver disease secondary to alcohol injury, viral hepatitis and the more recently identified entity of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and a lack of significant increase in the liver transplant donor pool, a need for identification of individuals with rapid deterioration in liver function requiring supportive and interventional treatments, has markedly increased.